Sajano Bagan

Sajano BaganWritten and directed by Manoj MitraOf the uncontainable spirit of life and earthBanchharam's orchard laden with the riches of the earth is beautiful, an object of desire. It represents the culmination of man's efforts in conjunction with nature. Banchha has nurtured the garden all his life. He gazes wonder eyed as the silver dewdrops glisten on leaves and the watermelons swell with sweetness. So far he has guarded the garden successfully from marauding cows and greedy men. Even Zamindar Chhakori who has always grabbed whatever took his fancy died his expectations unfulfilled.
But thirty years have passed Banchha is old and alone, unable to take care of the garden as he used to. Chhakori's ghost who haunts the garden exults at the prospect of Banchha's death when his son Zamindar Nakori will take the orchard. But Banchha's wayward grandson Gupey also hopes to gain from a sale of the orchard. He wants to begin a country liquor business. Banchha throws him out and in despair accepts Nakori's offer to look after him for as long as he lives provided Banchha wills him the orchard. They sign a legal contract.
Months pass, Banchha doesn't die. In fact he grows stronger on the good food bought with Nakori's money. To crown it Gupey returns with bride Padma in tow. A reformed man, Gupey wants to settle down and cultivate the orchard. A small time thief also claims a right to the orchard that has fed his impoverished family all these years. With a frustrated Nakori on one side and Gupey, Padma, their unborn child and the thief on the other Banchha doesn't know whether he should live or die. Then Nakori hands him a vial of Folidol promising a princely funeral.
Will Banchha take the poison?
Cast:Banchharam: Manoj Mitra
Nakori Dutta: Dipak Das
Hontka/ Kontka: Priyojit Bandhyopadhyay
Chhakari: Debabrata Das
Gupey: Subrata Chowdhuri
Padma: Arpita Sen
Chor: Utpal Chakraborty
Mokhtar: Indranil Chakraborty
Ganatkar: Samar Das
Gobinda Doctor: Dipak Thakurata
Gobindo: Jyotirindra N Mukhopadhyay
Purohit: Biswanath Dey
Grambashi: Dipak Thakurata, Surjo Chakravarty, Goutam Gayen, Shankar Prasad Sarkar, Ankan Chowdhury and others
Credit:Set design: Amit Sarkar
Light: Joy Sen
Music: Goutam Ghosh
Costume: Ankhi Sarkar
Makeup: Ajoy Ghosh
Set fabrication: Dipak Das and Manab Roy
Sound: Digvijay Biswas
Light operation: Bablu Roy

MANOJ MITRA

Founder member, dramatist, actor Manoj Mitra recalls: "We knew we wanted to do something different.Bengali theatre had then reached stagnation point, we wanted to stir it to life again."